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242
Three Score and Ten in Retrospect
in each class every day. The type of talking that was done in the district school was far from being public speaking, but it at least helped me to think and reason before other people. When I was well prepared in my lessons I would never stop talking until I had exhausted my memory. The text in our Geography class was a story written by Mr. Carpenter, a traveling Geography writer of great renown. When I was called upon at the first of the class I would recite the whole lesson that we had been assigned, unless the teacher stopped me. Every few weeks in our English class we were given a chance to debate. The majority of the pupils in our class were not anxious to debate, and that is why I was not limited in time. In one debate I attempted to prove twenty-one points. This debate took up practically the whole period. The fact that 1was well prepared for the debates in the grammar schools proved my intense desire to become a public speaker. The first debating team that I was ever a member of was a team picked from the eighth grade. The eighth grade debators debated the seventh grade team. After the debate was over I was proud to know that I had won my first public argument. When I was graduated from the eighth grade I felt that I had a reasonable start toward the end I had planned. I entered High School with a determination to grasp every opportunity I could which would help me to become a more effective speaker. I took many subjects that would help me in delivery and logic while talking. Geometry helped me to think more logically, because it is a study in which every step must be proved. Each step in the subject leads up to another point. If the same system were used in public speaking some of the speeches we hear would not seem so "dry." I have learned since that famous speakers and writers declare geometry to be a great help in speaking and writing. In my Freshman year 1 took a course in Oral Expression. There is a great difference between memorizing and giving original talks, but memorizing does help a great deal in developing good form and delivery. In the Oral Expression class I found interpreting of famous speeches was also a help to me.

242
Three Score and Ten in Retrospect
in each class every day. The type of talking that was done in the district school was far from being public speaking, but it at least helped me to think and reason before other people. When I was well prepared in my lessons I would never stop talking until I had exhausted my memory. The text in our Geography class was a story written by Mr. Carpenter, a traveling Geography writer of great renown. When I was called upon at the first of the class I would recite the whole lesson that we had been assigned, unless the teacher stopped me. Every few weeks in our English class we were given a chance to debate. The majority of the pupils in our class were not anxious to debate, and that is why I was not limited in time. In one debate I attempted to prove twenty-one points. This debate took up practically the whole period. The fact that 1was well prepared for the debates in the grammar schools proved my intense desire to become a public speaker. The first debating team that I was ever a member of was a team picked from the eighth grade. The eighth grade debators debated the seventh grade team. After the debate was over I was proud to know that I had won my first public argument. When I was graduated from the eighth grade I felt that I had a reasonable start toward the end I had planned. I entered High School with a determination to grasp every opportunity I could which would help me to become a more effective speaker. I took many subjects that would help me in delivery and logic while talking. Geometry helped me to think more logically, because it is a study in which every step must be proved. Each step in the subject leads up to another point. If the same system were used in public speaking some of the speeches we hear would not seem so "dry." I have learned since that famous speakers and writers declare geometry to be a great help in speaking and writing. In my Freshman year 1 took a course in Oral Expression. There is a great difference between memorizing and giving original talks, but memorizing does help a great deal in developing good form and delivery. In the Oral Expression class I found interpreting of famous speeches was also a help to me.